Hennepin wreck dive

bobmaggi

Just got back from a great dive on the Hennepin. This wreck is a wooden self-unloader sitting upright in 220' feet of Lake Michigan water, 13 miles west of South Haven Michigan. This is the largest intact wreck in our local (south west Michigan) waters. The 208' long ship was built in 1888 and sank in 1927.

The mooring is on the bow (195') and other than a missing pilot house, the bow is mostly intact with a beautiful ships wheel. The tallest structure is the 'A' frame for the self-unloader which tops out about 174'. The stern is very damaged but the boilers are visible with easy access. No one took a camera so the best I have is a link to the MSRA website here: MSRA - The wreck of the Hennepin

Today we had 2 boats and 4 divers, 3 OC and myself on my KISS. Bottom times were 25 minutes with at least 60' visibility. Water temp was 41 degrees until the thermocline at 74' where it got to a balmy 63 and finally 73 at the 20 foot stop.

Great dive, planning on returning but Lake Michigan has been very unpredictable this summer, it's been very rough most of the summer. Today we were luck with only 1-2 footers.

Bob